Riders hold their own against Omaha

The RoughRiders fell to the USHL league-leading Omaha Lancers 3-5 this evening at the Stable. However, the game was hard fought and the team was able to pull together once again.

The game summary is as follows:

POWERPLAYS Omaha 2 for 5 : Cedar Rapids 2 for 5

SCORING SUMMARY Period 1 Omaha - Erik Haula (Matt White) 1:45 Omaha - Erik Haula (Matt White, Aaron Ave) 4:59 Omaha - Camden Wojtala (Tom Craig, Joe Lavin) 9:25 Cedar Rapids - Michael Parks (Peter Sakaris) 10:12 Cedar Rapids - Jeff Costello (powerplay) (Mac Bennett, Jayson Megna) 15:59 Period 2 Omaha - Seth Ambroz (powerplay) (C.J. Ludwig, Joe Lavin) 7:45 Omaha - C.J. Ludwig (powerplay) (Matt White, Erik Haula) 17:31 Period 3 Cedar Rapids - Eric Robinson (powerplay) (extra attacker) (Mac Bennett, Cason Hohmann) 14:15

PENALTIES

Period 1

Omaha - Ryan Daugherty - (Delay of Game), 2 min, 9:51 Cedar Rapids - Sam Warning - (Delay of Game), 2 min, 9:51 Cedar Rapids - Derek DeBlois - (Tripping), 2 min, 10:31 Omaha - Joe Lavin - (Tripping), 2 min, 15:47 Omaha - Ryan Daugherty - (Slashing), 2 min, 17:52 Cedar Rapids - Michael Parks - (Elbowing), 2 min, 17:52

Period 2

Omaha - C.J. Ludwig - (Holding), 2 min, 4:51 Cedar Rapids - Bryce Aneloski - (Unsportsmanlike Conduct), 2 min, 7:03 Omaha - Nick Oddo - (Delay of Game), 2 min, 13:17 Cedar Rapids - Jared Beers - (Delay of Game), 2 min, 13:17 Omaha - C.J. Ludwig - (Roughing), 2 min, 15:07 Omaha - Matt White - (Delay of Game), 2 min, 16:51 Cedar Rapids - Cason Hohmann - (Delay of Game), 2 min, 16:51 Cedar Rapids - Cason Hohmann - (Roughing), 2 min, 16:51

Period 3

Cedar Rapids - Cason Hohmann - (Checking from Behind), 2 min, 11:22 Omaha - C.J. Ludwig - (Holding), 2 min, 11:43 Omaha - Dakota Eveland - (Holding), 2 min, 13:33 Cedar Rapids - Zach Lehrke - (High Sticking), 2 min, 19:38

Riders drop two more

The Rough Riders have been unable to break out of their recent rut. On Thursday night the team fell to the Waterloo Blackhawks 3-6. Friday evening brought more disappointment as the riders lost at home 2-3.

Cedar Rapids' record is now 9-8-1, falling to fourth in the USHL's Eastern Division. They are only one point ahead of the Youngstown Phantoms, currently in fifth place.

Tonight brings new opportunity for the Riders to earn the 'W,' but it's going to be a tough one! The league-leading Omaha Lancers (16-3-0, 32 points) are coming to the Stable. Hopefully the team can use their speed and solid passing work to their advantage tonight. Puck drop is at 7:05.

Weekly hockey Tidbit

It's Thursday once again, and best of all it's Thanksgiving! Kick back, relax and get a good laugh in today with these hockey bloopers:

Week (end) preview

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Cedar Rapids Rough Riders travel to Young Arena to take on arch-rival Waterloo on Thursday, Nov. 26. Puck drops at 7:05 PM.

The team returns home on Friday to take on the Indiana Ice at 7:05 PM.

On Saturday, Omaha is coming to the Stable. Once again, game time is 7:05 PM.



HAVE A GREAT REST OF THE WEEK!

Riders Inconsistent as Ever

On Wed. Nov 18th the Rough Riders were defeated by the Indiana Ice 2-3. On Friday. Nov 20th the team fell to the Sioux City Musketeers 1-3. Their play was nothing less than horrible.

The team's home record is now 4-5. Not bad, but not great either. I can't imagine that losing at home is going to bring in very large crowds (besides the recession, which already has enough weight on the league) and the owners have to be biting their nails right about now.

I'm not really sure what to say about the team other than they need to step up. Cedar Rapids has been a powerhouse in the East Division for years. Inconsistency is not something that the die hard fans are used to, and they never will be. Wins=$, $=team staying in Cedar Rapids, and the survival of the Rough Riders keeps all hockey in Cedar Rapids alive.

I'm not saying that this one season will mean the team makes it or falls apart. I just know that it's hard to create (and keep) a fanbase when the team is not fulfilling expectations. Hopefully they can pull their game together and start wracking up the Ws.

Hockey Tidbit

A hockey player can't succeed without a solid foundation. In this Thursday's hockey tidbit, enjoy watching how hockey skates are made here.

This week's hockey preview

The Cedar Rapids Rough Riders have a busy streak of games ahead of them in the next few weeks. Tied for first place in the USHL (with one less game than Greenbay and Chicago) each game has a strong effect on the standings. To catch some games this week visit the USHL website to connect to the B2 network on:

Wednesday, Nov. 18 Cedar Rapids @ Indiana, 6:05 PM EASTERN TIME

Friday, Nov. 20 Cedar Rapids VS Sioux City @ The Stable, puck drop at 7:05 PM


The University of Iowa Ice Hawks

The Ice Hawks GOLD team travels to Overland Park, Kansas to take on the University of Kansas Jay Hawks.

Friday, Nov. 20th: puck drops at 8:00 PM
Saturday, Nov. 21st: puck drops at 3:00 PM

The Ice Hawks BLACK team has a by-week and will not return to play until December 4-5.

Ice Hawks weekend Update

The University of Iowa Ice Hawks GOLD team split their weekend series with the Illinois State Redbirds. On Friday evening the team was defeated 3-8. On Saturday the team was able to pull it together and a solid game goaltender Will Dodge allowed the team to win by a score of 3-1.

The University of Iowa Ice Hawks BLACK team was absolutely destroyed this weekend by the RMC Eagles. The team lost 0-12 on Friday night with Saturday's game not being much better, losing by a score of 2-10. I'm not quick to be hard on these guys though, because I know how hard they work and the team is only in its second year of existence. Just hang in there!

Rough Riders weekend Update

Friday night was a real nail-biter for the Rough Riders as the Sioux Falls Stampede rallied to tie up the game 3-3 after scoring three unanswered goals in the second and third periods. Their effort wasn't enough, however. The Rough Riders won in a shootout to make the score 4-3.

Goal Scorers are as follows:

Period 1

Cedar Rapids - Eric Robinson (unassisted) 11:24 Cedar Rapids - Jeff Costello (powerplay) (Bryce Aneloski, Jayson Megna) 13:37

Period 2

Cedar Rapids - Cason Hohmann (Eric Robinson) 16:55 Sioux Falls - Matt Lindblad (Matt Zarbo, Michael Voran) 17:14 Sioux Falls - Matt Zarbo (extra attacker) (Matt Lindblad) 17:25

Period 3

Sioux Falls - Ryan Misiak (Michael Voran, Matt Lindblad) 8:18

Overtime

(no scoring)

SHOOTOUT
Cedar Rapids	Sioux Falls
SHOOTER SCORE Zach Lehrke YES Jeff Costello NO Jayson Megna NO Sam Warning NO Cason Hohmann YES Eric Robinson YES Justin Kovacs YES	SCORE SHOOTER YES Matt Lindblad NO Anthony Day YES Michael Voran NO Matt Bailey NO Matt Zarbo YES Jacob Johnstone NO Josh Holmstrom
TOTALS: 4	3

On Saturday evening the Rough Riders had an awesome penalty kill that allowed the team to keep the Tri City Storm at bay, winning by a final score of 4-0 at the Stable.

Goal scorers are as follows:

Period 1

Cedar Rapids - Stephen Collins (powerplay) (Eric Robinson, Cason Hohmann) 14:10

Period 2

(no scoring)

Period 3

Cedar Rapids - Derek DeBlois (shorthanded) (Michael Parks, Bryce Aneloski) 0:23 Cedar Rapids - Jeff Costello (Cason Hohmann, Bryce Aneloski) 15:15 Cedar Rapids - Sam Warning (Eric Robinson, Jayson Megna) 18:53

After this weekend's games the Rough Riders are now tied for first place in the USHL Eastern Division with Greenbay and Chicago, which are both one game ahead of Cedar Rapids (15 GP).

Weekend Preview

Cedar Rapids Rough Riders

Friday, Nov. 13 @ Sioux Falls 7:05 PM

Saturday, Nov. 14 @ The Stable (home) VS Tri City 7:05 PM


University of Iowa GOLD

Friday, Nov. 13 VS Illinois State University (@ Pepsi Ice Center---Bloomington, IL) 9:30 PM
Saturday, Nov. 14 VS Illinois State University (" ") 12:30 PM

University of Iowa BLACK

Friday, Nov 13 VS Robert Morris White (@ Coral Ridge Ice Arena) 8:30 PM
Saturday, Nov. 14 VS Robert Morris White (" ") 4:45 PM

This day in hockey history

On Nov. 12, 1931 the Toronto Maple Leafs opened up their season for the first time at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario Canada. In the years following the rink's opening the Leafs went on to host the NHL's first All Star game in 1947. The leafs also won 11 Stanley Cups while playing in the Gardens. On February 13, 1999 the Leafs played their final game at the facility before moving to the Air Canada Centre.

Updated USHL Standings

East Division
Team			PTS	GP	W	L	OTL
Green Bay			16	12	7	3	2
Chicago			15	12	7	4	1
Cedar Rapids			14	12	7	5	0
Indiana			13	11	6	4	1
Youngstown			13	11	6	4	1
Waterloo			6	10	3	7	0
Team USA			2	11	0	9	2
West Division
Team			PTS	GP	W	L	OTL
Omaha			22	12	11	1	0
Sioux Falls			18	11	8	1	2
Tri-City			15	11	7	3	1
Fargo			12	11	6	5	0
Des Moines			10	12	5	7	0
Lincoln			8	13	4	9	0
Sioux City			7	11	3	7	1

High School Rough Riders game updates

This weekend the Cedar Rapids high school teams traveled to Mason City, Iowa to take on the Mohawks.

VARSITY: Loss 3-4 OT

Scoring summary:

Cedar Rapids - Tanner Hildebrand (Kevin Simon) , 5:04

Period 2

Cedar Rapids - Jacob Sevening (Sam Kacena) , 5:17

Cedar Rapids - Alec Bjornsen (unassisted) , 7:41

Period 3

Mason City - Justin Metli (powerplay) (Clint Hain) , 1:59

Mason City - Justin Metli (powerplay) (Robert Mahoney, Isaac Gribben) , 11:34

Mason City - Justin Metli (unassisted) , 14:52

OT

Mason City - Justin Metli (Isaac Gribben) , 9:47

JV Tie 3-3

Cedar Rapids - Tim Kigin (Zac Turner) , 7:22

Cedar Rapids - Brandon Ohmstein (powerplay) (Mitch Harger) , 13:35

Period 2

Cedar Rapids - Mitch Harger (unassisted) , 3:40

Mason City - C.j. Weber (powerplay) (unassisted) , 6:17

Mason City - Dylan Lincoln (powerplay) (Jake Nonnweiler) , 9:59

Period 3

Mason City - Skylar Wihlm (powerplay) (Derrick Barnes) , 11:41

Ice Hawks weekend Update

This weekend both University of Iowa hockey teams had some excitement come their way.

The Ice Hawks GOLD team:

Lost 1-5 Friday night against the University of Illinois. On Saturday night the team was able to tie the game at 2-2. The suspense continued until there were 8 minutes left in the game and the Illini went on a four goal scoring streak. Saturday's final score was 2-6 in favor of the home team.

The Ice Hawks BLACK team:

Broke their nine game losing streak this weekend. On Friday night the team was able to pull a win 8-3. Goals were by Moore (2), Weyermuller, Marsek, O'toole and Sladek. The team put up an impressive fight on Saturday, but were unable to get another W, losing by a final score of 5-8.

Disappointing weekend for Rough Riders

The Cedar Rapids Rough Riders fell to the Greenbay Gamblers both games this weekend by a large margin. Friday night's score was 5-1 in favor of the Gamblers with Saturday not being much better for the Riders, losing by a score of 3-6.

Attendance was a bit better, though. Friday night (at the Stable) there were . Saturday night brought in 2,800 fans at home for the Gamblers.

Friday night's scoring:

Period 1

Green Bay - Travis Lynch (Sam Alfieri, David Makowski) 15:34

Period 2

Green Bay - Sam Alfieri (Anders Lee, Ludwig Karlsson) 3:04 Green Bay - William Kessel (Patrick McCadden) 4:35 Green Bay - William Kessel (Anders Lee) 10:48

Period 3

Green Bay - Travis Lynch (Sean Little) 2:33 Cedar Rapids - Jordan DiGiando (powerplay) (Justin Kovacs) 17:35

Saturday Night's Scoring:

Period 1

Cedar Rapids - Stephen Collins (Chad Hudson, Cason Hohmann) 7:47 Green Bay - Brett Chartier (Scott Czarnowczan) 10:51

Period 2

Cedar Rapids - Jordan DiGiando (Peter Sakaris) 1:07 Green Bay - Anders Lee (Scott Czarnowczan, Sam Alfieri) 3:37 Cedar Rapids - Jayson Megna (shorthanded) (Eric Robinson) 6:06 Green Bay - Ryan Furne (powerplay) (Matt Stewart) 14:15

Period 3

Green Bay - Robert Francis (unassisted) 7:27 Green Bay - Brett Chartier (powerplay) (Ryan Furne, Reed Seckel) 14:05 Green Bay - Patrick McCadden (William Kessel, Robert Francis

More information on both games is available via the Official USHL website.

Weekend Preview

The Cedar Rapids Rough Riders

Open up this weekend at home, taking on the Green Bay Gamblers at 7:05 PM on Friday evening. The team then travels to Greenbay (Way to save money, USHL...great schedule planning) to play at the Resch Center.



The University of Iowa GOLD

Travel to Champaign, Illinois to take on the D1 U of Illinois.
Both games on Friday and Saturday begin at 7:30 PM.


The University of Iowa BLACK

Are home this weekend, taking on Northwestern.

Friday night's game begins at 8:30 PM.
Saturday night's game begins at 4:45 PM.

Oh Geez...

The Cedar Rapids Rough Riders have announced that they're searching for "Riders girls" to liven up the atmosphere at the Stable. There will be a competition to pick out the 8-10 women with valuable 'assets.'

Great to see that the ladies are getting in on the action besides being Bimm-Riderette girls who get to attempt throwing (aka often hitting the glass, giggling, and doing the 'oh my i'm a little girl' act) coozies to the crowd while wearing T-shirts meant to be sized for six year olds.

Le sigh.

I have to say hockey cheerleaders have to be the biggest joke that I have ever seen. They just march around and entertain male guests while making complete asses out of themselves (by being unable to skate, knowing virtually nothing about hockey, and tripping down the stairs as they attempt lame cheers), and occasionally do something handy like scoop up ice while wearing hot pants in front of the crowd.

Dream big girls, dream big.

Hockey Tidbit: Get in a laugh today

Hockey season is in full swing with teams having ups and downs. I figure now is a good time for a hockey video that is sure to get most people laughing at one point or another. Behold the glory of Clark, the Canadian hockey goalie:

CCM Goaltender of the Week

Congratulations to Matt Hemingway who has been chosen as the USHL Reebok-CCM goalie of the week!

From USHL.com:

Hemingway made just his second USHL start on Friday, but stopped all 30 shots in the 2-0 victory over the Chicago Steel. The 18-year-old from Alexandria, Minnesota earned the key road win over the League's top offensive club, which had averaged 4.88 goals per game coming into the contest. Hemingway has won both his starts during his first USHL season and currently has a 1.92 GAA and a .943 SV% for the RoughRiders

RR Commits to U of MN

Congrats to 17-year-old Sam Warning who has received a college scholarship to the University of Minnesota! Warning will suit up for the Golden Gophers beginning next fall. More information is posted on the official website. Click here.

High School Rough Riders game updates

All team information is available here.

The High School Rough Riders JV team scores from the weekend are as follows:

W 2-1 over Dubuque Devils 10/30
W 3-1 over Quad City Eagles 10/31
L 1-5 against Quad City Eagles 11/1


The High School Rough Riders Varsity team scores from the weekend are as follows:

W 4-2 over Dubuque Devils 10/30
T 4-4 Quad City Eagles 10/31
L 3-2 Quad City Eagles 11/1

Read a story about the team from The Cedar Rapids Gazette here.

Ice Hawks weekend Update

The Ice Hawks GOLD team had a respectable weekend against the University of St. Louis Billikens. They lost 4-8 on Friday night before regrouping and coming back to defeat the team 8-3 on Saturday night. Way to pick it up guys!

The Ice Hawks BLACK were unable to pull such a feat this time around, losing to the ISU Ice Birds 4-6 on Friday night and 1-4 on Saturday Night. I really do think this team is going to pull it together, though. They pass well and have team chemistry. The puck just hasn't bounced their way.

Riders fall to Steel on Halloween

The Cedar Rapids Rough Riders were defeated by the Chicago Steel 5-6 on Saturday evening. The game winning goal was scored with only four seconds left in the game.

A disappointing finish at home in front of 1,300 fans. Hopefully this doesn't become another season where the team constantly wins on the road and then can't put on a good show at home.

If that's the case I don't see the organization succeeding this year. Losses=Lots of Empty seats. That would be a shame to see. Attendance is already down league wide and it'd be horrible to pull in less than 1,000 fans per game average.

SCORING SUMMARY

Period 1

Cedar Rapids - Eric Robinson (unassisted) 3:11 Chicago - Alex Krushelnyski (Greg Wolfe, Jake Chelios) 5:50 Cedar Rapids - Stephen Collins (Nolan Zajac) 7:11 Cedar Rapids - Peter Sakaris (Zach Lehrke) 7:47 Chicago - Mac Olson (Jay Camper, Theo DiPauli) 19:20

Period 2

Chicago - Mark Anthoine (Sahir Gill) 5:42 Cedar Rapids - Zach Lehrke (powerplay) (Bryce Aneloski, Stephen Collins) 11:09 Chicago - Mark Anthoine (Andrei Kuchin) 13:13 Cedar Rapids - Jordan DiGiando (Zach Lehrke) 13:43

Period 3

Chicago - Greg Wolfe (Jake Chelios, Patrick Raley) 4:43 Chicago - Dan Kolomatis (powerplay) (Mark Anthoine, Andrei Kuchin) 19:56

PENALTIES

Period 1

Chicago - Jay Camper - (Roughing), 2 min, 8:23 Chicago - Andrew Schmit - (Holding), 2 min, 17:30

Period 2

Cedar Rapids - Nick Lappin - (Charging), 2 min, 7:20 Chicago - Zack Rall - (Hooking), 2 min, 10:16

Period 3

Chicago - Dan Kolomatis - (Tripping), 2 min, 0:29 Chicago - Andrei Kuchin - (Roughing), 2 min, 8:54 Cedar Rapids - Jayson Megna - (Roughing), 2 min, 8:54 Cedar Rapids - Chad Hudson - (Tripping), 2 min, 9:15 Cedar Rapids - Peter Sakaris - (High Sticking), 2 min, 13:57 Chicago - Zack Rall - (Interference), 2 min, 15:11 Cedar Rapids - Stephen Collins - (High Sticking Double Minor), 4 min, 16:35